$68 property tax bill?

[Buy American]

Like I said in an earlier post, Detroiters just don't care. As long as they can stick it to the man, no matter that they are getting the shaft BIG TIME, they just don't care. It's obvious isn't it? Like R8R said, Watsons neighbors were out there in full force today and not one of them seemed mad or outraged at Watson for her lapse of tax payments. I can honestly say that if I were charged $68 per year for my taxes, I would be at the assessors office with the first bill to have it straightened out. I don't like high taxes like the next guy, but I would certainly know that it was a mistake and wouldn't want to receive a tax bill 10 years later with retroactive charges plus interest....and that's exactly what should happen to Watson. She is kidding herself if she thinks that an intelligent person would accept her story in any way, shape or form. She needs to resign in shame. On the other hand, maybe the people on her street got excellent services, garbage pick up on time, changed street lights when they went dark, police and fire protection at all times....maybe Watson arranged that for her street in exchange for her lower taxes. Someone in the assessors office is to blame as well. The whole city government is loaded with thieves, rapists, con artists, scammers, and just plain low lifes.

[dexterferry]

oh Buy American, I am so worried all these "detroiters" are gonna give you a coronary. let's stay focused: no thoughts deeper than what can fit on a bumper sticker, buddy.

[R8RBOB]

Like I said in an earlier post, Detroiters just don't care. As long as they can stick it to the man, no matter that they are getting the shaft BIG TIME, they just don't care. It's obvious isn't it? Like R8R said, Watsons neighbors were out there in full force today and not one of them seemed mad or outraged at Watson for her lapse of tax payments. I can honestly say that if I were charged $68 per year for my taxes, I would be at the assessors office with the first bill to have it straightened out. I don't like high taxes like the next guy, but I would certainly know that it was a mistake and wouldn't want to receive a tax bill 10 years later with retroactive charges plus interest....and that's exactly what should happen to Watson. She is kidding herself if she thinks that an intelligent person would accept her story in any way, shape or form. She needs to resign in shame. On the other hand, maybe the people on her street got excellent services, garbage pick up on time, changed street lights when they went dark, police and fire protection at all times....maybe Watson arranged that for her street in exchange for her lower taxes. Someone in the assessors office is to blame as well. The whole city government is loaded with thieves, rapists, con artists, scammers, and just plain low lifes.

Sorry Mr. American, but as a Detroiter, I do care. I care like other Detroiters who care about their city. That said, Detroiters aren't "sticking it to the man." They are sticking it to themselves. "The Man" is living outside Detroit and he feels nothing except the breeze coming off the lake sitting on his patio. Please do not confuse me knocking Watson's neighbors for smearing Detroiters because that is not the case. As a Detroiter, I understand the neighbors wanted to stand by her but they are doing it for the wrong reason. I didn't expect them to tell her "FU" but I hated seeing the dog and pony show for the cameras.

Now as for what you said about her knowing about the 68 bucks you are right. Right is right and wrong is wrong. There is no shade of gray. Any Detroiter will tell you that the city mail out assements every single year telling you what your property is worth. If Ms. Watson believed that her house was worth $1,658, I need to sell her my bridge in Brooklyn.

Again, my disappointment about this is that Watson is a public figure in this city. We need our officials to lead by example. If JoAnn Watson was a average Joe who got a 68 dollar tax bill, who cares? You and I would never know. But JoAnn Watson is a public face that has to lead by example and because she is a public face we now know she has gotten over for years. It is not right and she should be called on it.

[Locke09]

I have a real problem with Ms. Watson only having to pay $68 per year in property taxes. But, I also have a real problem with people and businesses in "special" neighborhoods and districts getting significant breaks on their property taxes while I have to pay the full amount of mine. I feel like I'm paying for services they are receiving. I shouldn't have to live in a particular zone to get a tax break. I shouldn't have to have recently moved into Detroit to get a tax break. I should be rewarded for having been here contributing to the city all along.

That being said, Ms. Watson did not scam anyone unless she filed paperwork stating that her property was a vacant lot. She was however, dishonest in the truest sense of the word because she must have known that $68 was far too low.

Unfortunately, most people are not as honest as they like to think they are and definitely not as honest as they like to have others think they are.

[Locke09]

http://www.detnews.com/article/20090...smear-campaign-

Now, of course, it's a C-O-N-spiracy to get her in an election year. Actually, it just may be. Hmmnn, all progressive, forward-thinking Detroiters are conspiring to oust all of the ineffective, living-in-the-past relics still making decisions for this city?!? Nnaahh, too good to be true.

Sad and sickening. Admit that you're wrong! THE WHITE MAN DIDN'T DO IT, YOU DID!!!!! It's no wonder the youth of this city cannot take responsibility, there is no place they can learn it from.

She didn't say anything about the white man. She implied it might be an election-related smear campaign. Stop making things up.

Why do so many people take the actions of one person and use that as an opportunity to disparage an entire city. That in itself is dishonest and more appropriate for the Free Press forum.

[Moetown]

She bought the house on a land contract for 40k in 1990, then refinanced for 60k in 2002, so she knew what the value of the house was while receiving a 68 dollar tax bill for the past 11 years...

When you get up on a soap box to battle tax breaks like she did, you better be clean, turns out she got a break of her own, then she got broken off..

I thought the prayer vigil in front of the house was a nice touch, what was the prayer for another tornado?

[MIRepublic]

She didn't say anything about the white man. She implied it might be an election-related smear campaign. Stop making things up.

I noticed that same comment, and it's as if people can't help but to inject stuff into a conversation where it was never brought in by the person in question. You know, you can always tell the people with agendas because their brains are always stuck on one thing.

As others have said, this is particularly disappointing given that it's Watson, of all of the council members. You know, I'm sure she knows this, but not asking enough questions and not being curious enough is not a defense. Never has been, and never would be.

[daddeeo]

Thing is, who's city council members are constantly on TV news screwing up?
Watson should know better. When you get a bank statement with the wrong information, you know it's a mater of time before it's caught. She must have thought she got away with something and never would get caught. Pretty naive.
She 's supposed to be a leader in the community. If I was a citizen in Detroit, I'd forget to vote for her like she forgot to pay her fair share of taxes.
That tornado story is a real whopper too.

[rjk]

She insulted tax payers, clear thinking people with her ridiculous excuse and finally religious people with her little prayer vigil at her press conference. Who's left?

If Ken Cockrel, who I have a pretty high opinion of as far as politicians go did this there would be no way I could vote for him in good conscious. The idea that someone is making $80,000 a year including a Crown Victoria, has a close to $700,000 yearly budget and she knowingly doesn't pull her weight while others are paying their high taxes is rotten.

Here's hoping she's on the wrong side of the election results come this summer/fall.
I'll be stunned if she gets voted back on CC

[Buy American]

oh Buy American, I am so worried all these "detroiters" are gonna give you a coronary. let's stay focused: no thoughts deeper than what can fit on a bumper sticker, buddy.

Your efforts should be directed to someone else, perhaps your council would be the first place to start.

[Buy American]

Sorry Mr. American, but as a Detroiter, I do care. I care like other Detroiters who care about their city. That said, Detroiters aren't "sticking it to the man." They are sticking it to themselves. "The Man" is living outside Detroit and he feels nothing except the breeze coming off the lake sitting on his patio. Please do not confuse me knocking Watson's neighbors for smearing Detroiters because that is not the case. As a Detroiter, I understand the neighbors wanted to stand by her but they are doing it for the wrong reason. I didn't expect them to tell her "FU" but I hated seeing the dog and pony show for the cameras.

Now as for what you said about her knowing about the 68 bucks you are right. Right is right and wrong is wrong. There is no shade of gray. Any Detroiter will tell you that the city mail out assements every single year telling you what your property is worth. If Ms. Watson believed that her house was worth $1,658, I need to sell her my bridge in Brooklyn.

Again, my disappointment about this is that Watson is a public figure in this city. We need our officials to lead by example. If JoAnn Watson was a average Joe who got a 68 dollar tax bill, who cares? You and I would never know. But JoAnn Watson is a public face that has to lead by example and because she is a public face we now know she has gotten over for years. It is not right and she should be called on it.

Maybe you care but you are in the minority in the City of Detroit. The man has been trying to help Detroit for years but Monica Conyers said it herself, we want your money but we don't want you to interfere in how we do things here....you don't look like me. For some Detroiters, that's "sticking it to the man" and they love it. The only breeze the man is getting is the hot wind from Detroit. The neighborhood that Watson lives in looks quite affluent, why would these neighbors stand by her knowing that they are carrying the load for Detroit while elected politicians are shafting them? That's the mentality I can't undersand.

Believe me when I say, I care deeply about Detroit because it is my hometown.

Also, I care about what goes on at City Hall. The politicians are not only stealing from the residents today but they are stealing from it's workers and all those retirees who gave 30 + years of hard work and loyalty to Detroit. I don't want to see Detroit in receivership but that looks like the inevitable outcome.

On a side note, can anyone give me 5 names of City government officials who are honest?

[Gistok]

So have you made it your mission to try and wake the people up via this message board?

I've got news for you, there aren't a lot of Detroit residents on here. You might as well wear a sandwich board and ring a bell on the corner of 12 Mile and Woodward. It's having the same effect as your veiled racist rants on here.

By the way, I wonder if you care this much about your own local government since it's obvious you wouldn't live in a post-apocalyptic city like Detroit these days. Would you be able to name a few members of your city council and what particular members you voted for the last election? You sure know Detroit's lineup.

Well well well... there you go again... bashing non-Detroit residents...

Suburbanites don't mind city residents bashing LBP or Warren mayor Fouts... but yet you admonish folks who don't live in Detroit but criticize Detroit leaders... Sorry pal... but we've been doing this for over 10 years on this Forum... if newbies like yourself don't like it, go somewhere else... cuz the "you don't live here" cop-out is about as cold as CAY's corpse...

FYI... this board is owned and operated by a non-Detroiter.

Just because most people on this forum don't live in the city doesn't mean they don't care about it...

[dexterferry]

if certain "people who don't live in the city" cared about the people of detroit as much as they care about, say, ornamental plaster in well-designed acoustic settings, there wouldn't be as much of this dull conflict.

[Gistok]

if certain "people who don't live in the city" cared about the people of detroit as much as they care about, say, ornamental plaster in well-designed acoustic settings, there wouldn't be as much of this dull conflict.

Nice cheap shot... eh Dexter... does that give you a warm fuzzy feeling? And what have you contributed to this forum? [[Sound of crickets...)

And anyone with at least 50 posts and half a brain... would know that it was the restoration of that "ornamental plaster in well-designed acoustic settings".... that got the north end of downtown to go from "the dead zone", to be the entertainment center of the city that it is today...

[dexterferry]

pretending you care about "detroit" through an obsession with irrelevant architecture on an internet message board is hardly a contribution, bub.

when I see people like Buy American with his hardly-veiled racist frustrations, at least I can appreciate that his issues are on the surface. I find the fetichization of detroit's buildings and "fabulous ruins" while the true issues confronting its people are ignored far more reprehensible.

[Locke09]

The man has been trying to help Detroit for years but Monica Conyers said it herself, we want your money but we don't want you to interfere in how we do things here....you don't look like me. For some Detroiters, that's "sticking it to the man" and they love it.

Who exactly is this "man" to whom you keep referring? And is he trying to be a partner, or a guardian?

And you do realize it's possible to love "Detroit" [[as you remember it) but despise [[I'm intentionally not using the word I want to use) Detroiters. You can despise them because you believe "they" have messed up your Detroit. Just be honest about it.

But, like I said, there are probably no 100% honest people on the planet. If nothing else, people tend to call ugly babies cute.

We do have a right, as some have articulated, to be dismayed about the behavior of an elected official who is always on the soapbox about taxes, being found benefitting from an error. But it is disingenuous when people try to use this to denigrate an entire city. They definitely have a hidden agenda.

[Gistok]

pretending you care about "detroit" through an obsession with irrelevant architecture on an internet message board is hardly a contribution, bub. I find the fetichization of detroit's buildings and "fabulous ruins" while the true issues confronting its people are ignored far more reprehensible.

Well dex... the last time I did the TOUR DETROIT FORUM RUINS... it was about as you say "irrelevent architecture on an internet message board" with other issues as well... perhaps you need to find a different forum about other topics that are near and dear to you...

Sorry, Lowell ain't going to change this one to suit your personal desires or social good deeds... but if you don't like my historic building posts... use the "ignore function"...

...and as for your complaints about architecture being "irrelevent".... Frank Lloyd Wright once stated that "Architecture is how our civilization will be judged by future civilizations"...

But calling architecture "irrelevant"... well let's put it this way... you must not get out much... or have visited any of the great cities of the world.

[Crumbled_pavement]

Detroit just elected a suburbanite as mayor, so when morons come on and say Detroiters are against anything suburban I laugh.

[Buy American]

pretending you care about "detroit" through an obsession with irrelevant architecture on an internet message board is hardly a contribution, bub.

when I see people like Buy American with his hardly-veiled racist frustrations, at least I can appreciate that his issues are on the surface. I find the fetichization of detroit's buildings and "fabulous ruins" while the true issues confronting its people are ignored far more reprehensible.

Nothing racist about my remarks. You can read anything you want into what I say, the facts are the facts. Yes, I am frustrated and angry. You should be too.

[dcmorrison12]

This news is not getting national attention. It's embarrasing! I just came across this issue in an artile on MSN.com!

[2blocksaway]

I don't blame her for doing it. I would have kept quiet too.

However, she shouldn't have done it for so long while in office and she also shouldn't have complained about GM paying it's "fair share".

She also should have come clean about it and ditched the tornado story. A tornado? Really? Worst. Excuse. Ever.!!!

All she needed to say is "When the assessment went down a few years I knew it didn't look right but I figured I'd ride it out and see what happened."

What I think happened is she made a call to the assessors office, did a favor or two for a few people who work there and her assessment magically went down.

[Gistok]

I don't blame her for doing it. I would have kept quiet too.

However, she shouldn't have done it for so long while in office and she also shouldn't have complained about GM paying it's "fair share".

She also should have come clean about it and ditched the tornado story. A tornado? Really? Worst. Excuse. Ever.!!!

All she needed to say is "When the assessment went down a few years I knew it didn't look right but I figured I'd ride it out and see what happened."

What I think happened is she made a call to the assessors office, did a favor or two for a few people who work there and her assessment magically went down.

That may not be too far from the truth!

That tornado did a lot of roof, chimney and tree damage, but I don't recall that it razed a single house in Detroit. I remember seeing all the roof shingles that were damaged, chimneys that fell over [[mostly onto roofs), and a lot of trees that lost their upper limbs, but I don't think that there was a ground level pathway of destruction during that storm.

[Buy American]

http://www.freep.com/article/2009052...w+tax+payments

I want to say I can't believe the arrogance of this woman but I know better.

She is insisting that she only did what the City said to do, pay $68 in property tax on her tudor that is in one piece, not damaged by some phantom tornado. Even that is a lame excuse.....if you have damage on a home, you fix it and the house remains worth something. If this "tornado" blew her house into the Detroit River then I would say her taxes should be lowered. She is a scam artist....whether she doesn't smoke, drink or sleep around, she's a crook, nothing more. She should be ashamed and embarrassed to show her face at a council meeting with her outright lies. Face the facts Watson, you got caught, pay up what you owe retroactive, late fees, interest....then resign from the council and don't run for public office again. Let someone who has integrity, who is honest, and someone who wants what's right for the City of Detroit to take your place. Is there such a person?

[SWMAP]

My next-door neighbor has a full property tax exemption [[ostensibly for hardship) that she obtained with the help of Watson's office. Staff there told her exactly what to say and do. Then my neighbor, a 65 year old white woman with no political history whatsoever, suddenly ran for and was elected as a Wayne County precinct delegate in our precinct. Signs for Coleman A. Young Jr for Mayor began to appear on my neighbor's lawn and in her windows. Obviously, Watson does favors for those who will do favors for her. However, SW Detroit was pretty much Cockrel terrritory, so it was wasted effort.

[Brittz]

She will do the right thing and it will hurt her checkbook.